The Wildlife (and Gardening for Wildlife) thread

[elsiegee40]

It's an old stable building. The eaves are about 2m (I can reach the gutter) and the place I've seen the duck go in is about 1 to 1.5m higher than that.

 

That’s relatively low thank goodness… they’ll be jumping from 2 metres

[jmak]

That’s relatively low thank goodness… they’ll be jumping from 2 metres

Onto stone unfortunately.... Maybe I need to get the paddling pool out [emoji854]

[mikeprice]

Saw a Dragonfly yesterday - here is a shot of it flying past

 

 

 

 

OK OK OK - it was moving fast and it is small - it wasn't easy to get a good shot

 

I prefer landscapes - they don't move

or if they do they running is a better option that photography

[elsiegee40]

Saw a Dragonfly yesterday - here is a shot of it flying past

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]62433[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

OK OK OK - it was moving fast and it is small - it wasn't easy to get a good shot

 

I prefer landscapes - they don't move

or if they do they running is a better option that photography

 

That’s right up there with my photo of a Red Kite taken through our conservatory roof [emoji23]

[jmak]

That’s relatively low thank goodness… they’ll be jumping from 2 metres

Apparently they can survive the drop!

 

They only stayed in the garden for about half an hour and then tottered off down the road.

[elsiegee40]

So cute! Edited July 4, 2021 by elsiegee40

[6Foot2]

Link: Help save Britain’s hedgehogs with ‘hedgehog highways’! [Change.org]

 

On Monday 5th July the UK Government is going to have a debate about increasing the level of protection offered towards hedgehogs. This is as a result of the successful petition organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society reaching 108,327 signatures.

 

The initial response from Government on 19th October last years was not encouraging. “There are currently no plans to give hedgehogs further legal protection.” However, the weight of public opinion will have an impact - and our petition shows quite how much support the hedgehogs have.

 

So there are TWO asks:

 

This debate is massively important - PLEASE get in touch with your MP NOW - this week - to encourage them to attend the debate, to contribute and to support the decision that will be taken about the fate of our favourite creature...

 

...The second action I would really love you to take is to push this petition over a million ... if we can do that by next Monday it will really show the support behind the hedgehog. If just over 1% of you get one other person to sign up we are there!

 

This is a fantastic opportunity to help turn around the fate of the hedgehog. Please do all you can. Thank you.

 

Edit: At the time of posting, the petition had 996,377 signatures.

Edited July 4, 2021 by 6Foot2

[tg12]

 

Went back to see the coot family yesterday, all looking healthy and well and having fun exploring their home!

[elsiegee40]

Today’s baby birds at the rescue included 3 Goldcrest nestlings and 4 one day old Robin hatchlings (two of them hatched at the rescue). Both nests were in trees that people failed to check before doing work on them [emoji20]

 

These tiny beaks have to be fed with a tiny drop of hand rearing mix on the end of a fine paintbrush every 15 minutes. It’s fiddly and time-consuming and all the bigger babies need feeding too.

[ATTACH]62413[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]62414[/ATTACH]

 

Four days later… one of the goldcrests and two of the robins have made it. It’s always 50-50 getting such tiny birds through their first few days so, while it’s sad that we have lost some of them, it isn’t unexpected.

 

The Robins at 5 days old are already starting to grow feathers.

All 3 are hungry. The goldcrest won’t get much bigger as it is Britain’s smallest bird.

 

At the opposite end of the scale, this is our biggest baby currently… a carrion crow trying to convince me he needs feeding. He will be heading to a pre release aviary shortly where he can learn to be independent and find more to entertain him than causing a right mess! His eye looks dodgy, but it’s fine; it’s the nictitating membrane you can see.

Edited July 6, 2021 by elsiegee40

[6Foot2]

Link: Ludlow based Hedgehog Preservation Society wins parliamentary debate | Ludlow Advertiser

 

HAVING successfully gathered over 100,000 signatures on a petition asking for greater legal protection for hedgehogs, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, based in Ludlow, secured a date in parliament for a debate on how changes in the law might help the UK’s dwindling hedgehog population.

 

Hedgehog numbers have fallen by half in rural areas and a third in urban areas since the year 2000.

 

The pressure on hedgehog populations comes from a number of factors with loss of garden habitat one of them.

 

Campaigners have been asking house builders to support an initiative to provide ‘hedgehog highways’ that enable the creatures to move between gardens.

 

Hedgehogs often hibernate and rest up under bonfires putting them at special risk.

 

:thumb:

[elsiegee40]

Link: Ludlow based Hedgehog Preservation Society wins parliamentary debate | Ludlow Advertiser

 

 

 

:thumb:

 

Sadly the ‘debate’ was poor. Everyone loves hedgehogs, but nothing concrete came out of it

[Andrew_C]

We've got babies... At least two juvenile hoglets.

[elsiegee40]

We've got babies... At least two juvenile hoglets.

 

Awww

[southhamster]

I managed to repair our pond pump last week and yesterday we were having lunch nearby. A tiny wren came and spent about 2 minutes having a bath in the flowing water. A little bit of magic

[elsiegee40]

It’s been quite quiet in our garden for birds for the last couple of weeks or so… apart from starlings

 

This morning we had loads of tits, 2 nuthatches (we occasionally get 1) and 2 great spotted woodpeckers (adult female and a juvenile). Breakfast took rather longer than usual, but as I have been pinged I can’t go anywhere else

[Andrew_C]

Video of the hoglets.

[6Foot2]

Link 1: Big Butterfly Count

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]54541[/ATTACH]...

It's back again:

 

Link 1: Big Butterfly Count

 

Why count butterflies?

 

We count butterflies because not only are they beautiful creatures to be around but they are also extremely important. They are vital parts of the ecosystem as both pollinators and components of the food chain. However, they are under threat. Numbers of butterflies and moths in the UK have decreased significantly since the 1970s. This is a warning that cannot be ignored.

 

Butterfly declines are also an early warning for other wildlife losses. Butterflies are key biodiversity indicators for scientists as they react very quickly to changes in their environment. Therefore, if their numbers are falling, then nature is in trouble. So tracking numbers of butterflies is crucial in the fight to conserve our natural world. That’s why taking part in this massive citizen science enterprise is of great importance not just for our butterflies but for the wider environment and biodiversity in general.

 

So, thank you for taking the time to help!

 

Counting butterflies can be described as taking the pulse of nature and we depend on you, our citizen scientists, to help us assess how much help nature needs. The data from this and other counts will also help us to identify important trends in species that will assist us in planning how to protect butterflies from extinction, as well as understanding the effect of climate change on wildlife.

 

How to take part

 

Simply count butterflies for 15 minutes during bright (preferably sunny) weather during the Big Butterfly Count. We have chosen this time of year because most butterflies are at the adult stage of their lifecycle, so more likely to be seen. Records are welcome from anywhere: from parks, school grounds and gardens, to fields and forests.

 

If you are counting from a fixed position in your garden, count the maximum number of each species that you can see at a single time. For example, if you see three Red Admirals together on a buddleia bush then record it as 3, but if you only see one at a time then record it as 1 (even if you saw one on several occasions) – this is so that you don’t count the same butterfly more than once.

 

If you are doing your count on a walk, then simply total up the number of each butterfly species that you see during the 15 minutes.

 

We have provided a list of target butterfly and day-flying moth species in your area we’d like you to count. By restricting the list we minimise counting error and therefore have a clearer view of actual butterfly numbers across the country.

 

If you have spotted species which are not on our target species list here is a handy way you can record them too using the iRecord Butterflies App.

 

Also please remember that if you don’t see any butterflies then let us know that too. It is very important that we know if there are areas where butterflies are not being seen – this may indicate a wider problem.

 

Download our handy identification chart to help you work out which butterflies you have seen.

 

You can do as many counts as you want to: You can submit separate records for different dates at the same place, and for different places that you visit. And your count is useful even if you do not see any butterflies or moths.

 

Unfortunately, we cannot accept any counts sent in on paper or by email, text or phone.

 

You will be able to submit records throughout July and August...

 

Link 2: Big Butterfly Count Interactive Map

 

[6Foot2]

...some of my roses have black spot far earlier than usual...

 

We have a rose in the front garden, which was here when we arrived many years ago. We don't do much apart from an occasional prune and dead head when requred.

 

It's no prize winner, but it looks OK.

 

[jmak]

We have leaf cutter bees! I noticed a bee carrying a leaf a couple of days ago and thought it was just a random one that didn't know how to be a bee!

 

They've decided to colonise my patio table - they keep arriving with bits of leaf and taking them into the screw holes underneath the table. Since they're solitary bees and a limited number of holes, I have a suspicion that they're sabotaging each other as there are pikes of leaf cuttings in the ground under the table. Struggling to get any decent photos - these are the best so far:

 

[elsiegee40]

We have leaf cutter bees! I noticed a bee carrying a leaf a couple of days ago and thought it was just a random one that didn't know how to be a bee!

 

They've decided to colonise my patio table - they keep arriving with bits of leaf and taking them into the screw holes underneath the table. Since they're solitary bees and a limited number of holes, I have a suspicion that they're sabotaging each other as there are pikes of leaf cuttings in the ground under the table. Struggling to get any decent photos - these are the best so far:

 

[ATTACH]62653[/ATTACH][ATTACH]62654[/ATTACH]

 

My sister has them nesting in her metal framed patio table too

[6Foot2]

Link: Family of swans go walkabout on busy roundabout and bring rush hour traffic to a standstill - Wales Online

 

The evening commute can be 'foul' at the best of times...

 

 

...A family of swans decided to swap the River Tawe for the A4067, bringing rush hour traffic to a standstill.

 

The bevy of birds caused a tailback for commuters this evening (Monday, July 26) when six of them suddenly began swanning about on a roundabout in Swansea Vale, just down from J45 of the M4.

 

One motorist said they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

 

"There was tailback of about 20 to 30 cars and everyone was getting a bit angry at the hold up," he said.

 

"But, by the time people got to the front of the queue and saw the reason for the delay, they cheered right up. Everyone was smiling at the sight of them."...

 

 

...It's usually drivers doing the honking...

[mikeprice]

Serious question

 

While cleaning the patio - when I was rinsing the chemicals off the flags I directed it at the drain next to the house while washing the water off

 

a second or so later i noticed a mouse half way across the patio looking slow and very wet

 

I was startled and moved the jet away from it

 

OK - not the drain this mouse must have come from is about 1 foot from the way into the house via the patio doors

 

I looked back and the mouse had moved a few foot - quite slowly for a mouse - onto the lawn

 

I backed up to the shed to get a bucket because of I trapped the mouse in the bucket it would be safe and I would be able to think

 

by the time I got to the shed I tirned round to get the bucket and the mouse was just gone

 

 

 

hmm

 

so where is it

 

 

I blocked th eentrance to the drain with some pebbles - which have since been moved

 

 

 

so I am assuming it have moved back

 

 

 

clearly we do not want the mouse in the house

 

 

any suggestion that do not involve killing it

and also do not involve Mrs mikeprice finding mice in the house when it gets colder

[Ditto]

Kestrel chicks lucky escape! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57992207

Reminded me of reading about Kes as part of the English curriculum many, many moons ago!

[LeMarchand]

any suggestion that do not involve killing it

and also do not involve Mrs mikeprice finding mice in the house when it gets colder

 

You can get humane mouse traps where the mouse's weight causes the "door" to shut. Just make sure you are checking the traps daily, or they will be less humane than the old-fashioned type.

[mdrabble]

You can get some really good humane ones from Amazon which where a smoked plastic so you can see inside easily - bought 2 recently as had a spate of mice in downstairs bathroom and kitchen until I found the holes and filled them.

 

Peanut butter spread works really well!