The Wildlife (and Gardening for Wildlife) thread

[elsiegee40]

We have had a camera nest box since 2018 and the blue tits have always started nesting between March 10th and 18th. Yesterday I was surprised to find that they have already started this year.

[elsiegee40]

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This little thing was on our garden path last night. No-one anywhere nearby has a pond - though we have had a couple of little frogs in the back garden for years.

 

Newts spend the winter out of water and can travel quite a distance from the pond. This one is probably heading back for breeding

[elsiegee40]

It’s definitely an early spring. At the rescue we admitted our first baby badgers on February 4th!

 

 

And frogs started spawning in our pond 3-4 weeks earlier than usual. We also have far more spawn than usual.

[HarryMonkey]

Our back garden hedgehog visitor doesn't seem to have hibernated at all. It regularly pops up on our camera.

[Dos_Box]

A Pair of Ring Necked Parakeets on the Lancaster Canal yesterday. They nest just behind the canal in a row of trees (there are a lot of them).

 

[Dos_Box]

Will this do?

 

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Ours are just coming out now (I think the north is a couple of weeks behind the south for things like this), but the park behind my house has had crocuses out for about two weeks now.

 

[6Foot2]

Link: Staff at US wildlife centre wear fox mask to care for rescued kit - BBC News

 

 

Melissa Stanley is the Founder and Director of Richmond Wildlife Center in the US state of Virginia. When a rescued fox kit arrived, Stanley donned a fox mask to care for the newborn.

 

Speaking to the BBC, she explained why they took this step.

 

Click the link above for the video posted with this report. (Duration: 1 minute 9 seconds)

[Ditto]

Link: Staff at US wildlife centre wear fox mask to care for rescued kit - BBC News

 

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Click the link above for the video posted with this report. (Duration: 1 minute 9 seconds)

So pleased they got a Basil Brush look-a-like, rather than Basil Fawlty.

[6Foot2]

Link: A ball of barnacles wins wildlife photo award - BBC News

 

An incredible image of a football covered in goose barnacles is the winner of this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards.

 

The picture was chosen from more than 14,000 entries by both amateur and professional photographers.

 

The photograph, which also won the Coast and Marine category, was taken by Ryan Stalker.

 

"Above the water is just a football. But below the waterline is a colony of creatures. The football was washed up in Dorset after making a huge ocean journey across the Atlantic," says Stalker.

 

"More rubbish in the sea could increase the risk of more creatures making it to our shores and becoming invasive species."

 

Max Wood won the RSPB Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year award for his image of a coot running across a misty lake at sunrise. This award is supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to encourage young people to get involved with nature.

 

Photographers competed in different categories, here are the other winners.

 

Mark Williams won the Animal Portraits category with this picture of a common starling (Sturnus vulgaris).

 

"I had been observing the birds in my garden as they fed on sunflower seeds and peanuts from the feeder for some time. I aimed to capture the sense of movement and flight patterns in my images while still preserving the fine details of the birds.

 

"Timing was crucial, and I needed to carefully balance the flash with the ambient light to record the starling's trail at the beginning of the exposure, while a brief burst of flash would freeze the bird in mid-flight."

 

The beauty of slime mould is revealed in a picture by Jason McCombe, who won the Botanical Britain category.

 

"The world of slime moulds is fascinating. They're neither plants nor fungi," says McCombe.

 

"They're just so small that if you are not looking for them you will simply overlook them. Each head on these fruiting bodies is approximately 1mm wide.

 

"This image was made using 160 images, each focused on a different area of the scene, then stacked together to create one highly detailed image."

 

The Habitat category was won by Daniel Valverde Fernandez, who took this picture in Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Nottinghamshire and titled it The Tightrope Walker.

 

"In this image, you can see a red fox walking along a tree branch at a considerable height from the ground, demonstrating that these animals are true tightrope walkers of nature," says Fernandez.

 

"The fox is perfectly framed between the branches and its silhouette is subtly highlighted by the sun's rays falling on it."

 

Ross Hoddinott photographed these common blue butterflies on a farm in Devon to win the Hidden Britain category.

 

"I think I have a slight addiction to photographing blue butterflies - I just love them," says Hoddinott.

 

"They are such beautiful little insects, and they enhance any wildflower meadow or garden they inhabit. Blues are quite social insects, and they can often be found roosting quite close together - or even on the same grass or flower. I found a dozen or so blues all resting close together one evening last summer."

 

Graham Niven's picture of beech trees in East Lothian won the Wild Woods category.

 

"When the leaves are almost gone, the branches show their 'canopy shyness' - a phenomenon observed in many species of trees in which the crowns of mature trees do not touch each other," says Niven.

 

"In doing so, the trees form a canopy that has channel-like gaps which, when photographed from below, appear to create an intricate network of channels between the respective canopies.

 

"Besides the wondrous vision you are afforded, it's also just a great excuse to lie down in the forest."

 

Robin Dodd captured a picture of a raven flying over the Isle of Arran to win the Black and White category.

 

"This is a shot from the top of Goatfell on the Isle of Arran, which is the highest mountain on the island," says Dodd.

 

"It was a lovely hike to the top on a bright summer afternoon after arriving by ferry a few hours before. When we reached the summit, it was deserted except for two ravens who seemed to dominate the peak.

 

"We sat for some time, observing these birds gliding over Arran just as gracefully as any bird of prey.

 

"It's a harsh yet beautiful world they inhabit. This image is in black and white and consists of two shots, focus-stacked."

 

The Animal Behaviour category was won by Ian Mason with this picture titled Three Frogs in Amplexus.

 

"Every March, our garden ponds suddenly come alive with hundreds of frogs that seem to appear overnight from nowhere," says Mason.

 

"I have been photographing them for many years, and I am always fascinated and amused by their antics.

 

"Here, there has been a competition to mate with a female. For a lot of the time there is a frenzy of activity, but sometimes they freeze long enough to get a shot. The image is taken with the lens at water level, and the background is a distant larch tree."

 

A photograph of a fox in Bristol won Simon Withyman the Urban Wildlife category.

 

"This vixen had taken up residence in an electricity substation after being pushed out of her parental territory," says Withyman.

 

"The fenced-off area provided her with a quiet place to rest away from the busy city.

 

"She would often walk along this wall, and I was able to capture this photo through the gaps in the metal fencing, while making the most of some striking lens flare."

 

Felix Walker-Nix won the 12-14 years section with this photo of roe deer.

 

"Walking through the woods, I spotted this roe doe grazing the foliage," says Walker-Nix.

 

"Slowly, I crept towards her, careful not to startle her.

 

"To my delight, when she turned round, I saw a small fawn staring back at me.

 

"Keeping quiet, I raised the camera to take some photos, then swiftly left so I didn't disturb the young fawn and mother any longer. It was an incredible experience to see a 'humbug'-patterned fawn before it loses its spots, and it was a magical experience to get so close."

 

The 11 and under winner is Jamie Smart with this picture of a pheasant, taken in Wales.

 

"We got up very, very early one cold (-5°C), misty morning in spring in an effort to try to find some boxing hares up on the moorland," says Smart.

 

"On our way there, I spotted this pheasant sitting on a farm gate in the morning sunrise.

 

"I made dad stop the car and reverse slowly, quietly opened my car window and managed to get this photo of the pheasant in all his beauty, with the blackthorn blossom behind him and the sun rays lighting up his copper breast feathers.

 

"As it happens, we didn't get to see any hares boxing that morning, but Mr Pheasant making this appearance really made up for it."

 

The images can be seen at the BBC webpage linked above.

[elsiegee40]

We spotted this teeny slow-worm while out today and moved it to safety

[Ditto]

Certainly not a UK topic, but I learnt a little about Cicadas via this article https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/trillions-of-cicadas-to-swarm-u-s-first-double-brood-emergence-in-200-years/1638706

 

A billion plus cicada swarm that is a 1 in 200 year event - it's going to be noisy!

[Andrew_C]

and expensive for farmers.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Certainly not a UK topic, but I learnt a little about Cicadas via this article https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/trillions-of-cicadas-to-swarm-u-s-first-double-brood-emergence-in-200-years/1638706

 

A billion plus cicada swarm that is a 1 in 200 year event - it's going to be noisy!

I caught wind of this from Hannah Fry's instagram a couple of months ago

https://www.instagram.com/fryrsquared/reel/C1pDMI7NpFg/

 

Smart bugs with their prime-number lifecycles!

[6Foot2]

Link: House sparrow tops Big Garden Birdwatch charts for 21st year in a row | RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch | The Guardian

 

A friendly if slightly tuneless chirp is the most ubiquitous birdsong in British gardens with the house sparrow topping the Big Garden Birdwatch charts for the 21st consecutive year, according to the annual RSPB survey.

 

Blue tits, starlings, wood pigeons and blackbirds were the next most-sighted birds by more than 600,000 participants in the world’s largest wildlife garden survey.

 

The long-running citizen science project provides conservationists with invaluable data on how common species are faring. Although an average of four house sparrows were spotted in every garden when the survey was conducted in January, the number recorded has declined by nearly 60% since the survey began in 1979 ...

 

[6Foot2]

Link: Earthworm crowned UK invertebrate of the year by Guardian readers | Wildlife | The Guardian

 

It’s a political earthquake! The common earthworm, the soil-maker, food provider and grand recycler, is the landslide winner of the inaugural UK invertebrate of the year competition.

 

Lumbricus terrestris, also known as the lob worm, dew worm and nightcrawler, took a mighty 38% of the popular vote after readers nominated it to be added to the shortlist for the Guardian contest.

 

The rare and endangered shrill carder bee demonstrated the popular affection for bumblebees by coming second with 15% of the vote while the romantics’ choice, the glowworm, narrowly beat the unexpectedly popular distinguished jumping spider into bronze medal position with 9% of the vote.

 

Chris Packham, whose plea for the disrupter of the shortlist, the Asian or yellow-legged hornet made the front page of the Daily Star, said: “Through constant wriggling and extraordinary ecological commitment it’s great to see the earthworm take top spot. Although I suspect vote rigging by blackbirds, badgers and moles.”

 

The nature writer and campaigner Dr Amy-Jane Beer said: “Stop the press, here’s an award that really means something! In a media obsessed with the rare and beautiful, for the overwhelming importance of a cold, slimy, mostly unseen creature long associated with a kind of mute, spineless, humility to receive public recognition is a big deal.”

 

The invertebrate charity Buglife also welcomed the earthworm’s triumph. “It’s great news,” said David Smith, Buglife’s advocacy and social change officer. “These ecosystem engineers go about their lives often unnoticed yet are vital for producing the food we eat and easing the impacts of flooding. Unfortunately, earthworms are under threat from multiple sources including chemical use, invasive species, and intensive land use, hopefully with its new title, the public will support these vital invertebrates and take action to help them thrive.”

 

“A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm,” declared Hamlet, baffling Claudius the King in Shakespeare’s play but hailing the recycling prowess of the earthworm.

 

Earthworms can bring 40 tonnes of soil to the surface per hectare a year in Britain. Their usefulness is increasingly hailed in an era where regenerative farmers and many others are paying new attention to soil health.

 

Worms make soils less prone to flooding in winter and less baking hard in summer, they boost microbial activity and, of course, are vital in supporting plant growth, including the crops that feed us.

 

As well as being important, earthworms lead long (up to six years in captivity) and wondrous lives, and their charisma is well appreciated by those great connoisseurs of the living world, children. One of many readers who nominated the earthworm was Lily, four, who appreciated their “soft” feel in the hand and their general wiggly appeal.

 

The common earthworm appears on the surface – especially during damp and wet times, hence its other names, dew worm and rain worm – and is one of those precious invertebrates who we can see almost daily, and help too. I always feel better about myself if I stop mid-stride and rescue a stranded worm from the pavement or road.

 

Unfortunately, like so many other common invertebrates, earthworms are disappearing: the UK’s first national assessment, in 2023, found that populations are estimated to have declined by a third over the past 25 years.

 

It is not just on farmland where declines are occurring, probably due to pesticides and intensive ploughing, but in broadleaved woodlands – suggesting that wider factors such as climate change and pollution from animal worming including treatments for pets are driving losses.

 

Surprisingly the most traditionally beautiful animals on the shortlist, the swallowtail butterfly and the Clifden nonpareil moth, polled modestly, finishing in sixth and 10th place respectively.

 

The naturalist and author Dominic Couzens said: “There’s no doubt that the earthworm is a worthy winner, but perhaps that reflects the grey sky of our troubled times? Perhaps one day we will go with a feelgood selection, such as the sumptuously glamorous Clifton nonpareil or swallowtail?”

 

Bringing up the rear on the shortlist with just 0.8% of the vote was the Asian or yellow-legged hornet, an invasive species known for attacking honeybee colonies which was nevertheless championed by Packham, who made the case for tackling the biodiversity crisis rather than scapegoating one species, which humans are to blame for spreading.

[6Foot2]

NOTE: Not a political post: No political replies are expected, nor are they invited.

 

Link:

[Zero Hour Video Post]

 

“What has nature ever done for us?”

 

Apart from the air we breathe, the food we eat, making us healthier—what has #nature ever done for us?...

 

Click the link (above) for the video.

 

Edited April 24, 2024 by 6Foot2

[6Foot2]

Certainly not a UK topic, but I learnt a little about Cicadas via this article https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/trillions-of-cicadas-to-swarm-u-s-first-double-brood-emergence-in-200-years/1638706

 

A billion plus cicada swarm that is a 1 in 200 year event - it's going to be noisy!

 

Link: Cicadas are making so much noise that residents are calling the police in South Carolina - CBS News

 

Emerging cicadas are so loud in one South Carolina county that residents are calling the sheriff's office asking why they can hear a "noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar."

 

The Newberry County Sheriff's Office sent out a message on Facebook on Tuesday letting people know that the whining sound is just the male cicadas singing to attract mates after more than a decade of being dormant.

 

Some people have even flagged down deputies to ask what the noise is all about, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.

 

The nosiest cicadas were moving around the county of about 38,000 people, about 40 miles northwest of Columbia, prompting calls from different locations as Tuesday wore on, Foster said.

 

Their collective songs can be as loud as jet engines and scientists who study them often wear earmuffs to protect their hearing.

 

After Tuesday, Foster understands why.

 

"Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets," Foster wrote in his statement to county residents. "Unfortunately, it is the sounds of nature."

 

Cicadas are already emerging in southern states, like South Carolina, where it warms up faster, while in cooler states, such as those in the upper Midwest, they might not emerge until June.

 

This year, two broods of cicadas are emerging: Brood XIX, which comes out every 13 years, will emerge in the Georgia and Southeast, and Brood XIII, which emerges every 17 years, will appear in Illinois.

 

This will be the first time since 1803 that two broods emerged at the same time. The next time this happens will be 2037. With this convergence, the bugs will arrive in numbers that have not been seen in generations.

 

The dual cicada brood emergence will primarily be seen in parts of Illinois and Iowa, as well as parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

[Andrew_C]

Is it just me, or do you think whoever wrote that article doesn't understand Roman numerals?

[Ditto]

Is it just me, or do you think whoever wrote that article doesn't understand Roman numerals?

 

The Brood numbering systems is explained here.

[HarryMonkey]

Is it just me, or do you think whoever wrote that article doesn't understand Roman numerals?

 

19 & 13 ??

[Andrew_C]

Ahhh... No relation to years then...

[LeMarchand]

Animal rescue stories (both with some weird editing).

 

 

[Norphy]

 

Blackbird stealing from our planters:)

[Dos_Box]

I had a great day out yesterday, not exactly intending to see very much I went out with a friend to Gait Barrows near Silverdale and Foulshaw Moss to see what was out.

Gait Barrows is home to two very rare species, the Duke of Burgundy butterfly and Ladies Slipper orchids. It's really too early for both, but we did see one of the first emerging Duke of Burgundy's and very close up. Chuffed to bits!

Apologies for the image quality, they are very small and we only had phone cameras + the area they live is beyoned a rope fence, so you can only get so close.

 

 

We then went to Foulshaw Moss (about 15 mins away) to see the Ospreys and other birdlife. When we got to one of the viewing areas (an elevated one, but not with the best view of the nest) we were told that the female had gone off some time ago and the male was left with the youngsters. A few mins later she flew past, no more than 30 meters away carrying a fish. Sadly no pics as we were all awestruck at seeing one so close up. So I took some pics of the Common Lizards that abound there.

 

 

All in all, for an afternoon where we were just after a walk and not expecting to see anything, it was a rather good day!

[elsiegee40]

We have a guest for the night. This young blackbird was caught by a cat and brought round to me as the rescue is closed for the night. I keep hand rearing mix here just in case… this isn’t the first time this has happened. [emoji3]

 

Baby blackbird is very hungry and very vocal. It’s spending the night in the warmth and darkness of the airing cupboard in the hope that we aren’t woken by too early by a hungry baby! [emoji23]

 

It’ll be taken to the rescue in the morning.

Edited May 13, 2024 by elsiegee40