The Wildlife (and Gardening for Wildlife) thread

[mikeprice]

Yesterday I heard a funny banging from the garden

 

Looked out and next door's bird box - which has had blue tits flying in and out for a while - had a Gretaer Spotted Woodpecker pecking at the entrance hole surrounding - trying to enlarge it so he/she could get in and get at the chicks/eggs

 

 

apologies if this causes flashbacks to DosBox for previous trauma - if I remember correctly

 

no photos as it was too far for the phone camera and the proper cameras are probably short on power as they haven;t been needed over the winter

[elsiegee40]

Yesterday I heard a funny banging from the garden

 

Looked out and next door's bird box - which has had blue tits flying in and out for a while - had a Gretaer Spotted Woodpecker pecking at the entrance hole surrounding - trying to enlarge it so he/she could get in and get at the chicks/eggs

 

 

apologies if this causes flashbacks to DosBox for previous trauma - if I remember correctly

 

no photos as it was too far for the phone camera and the proper cameras are probably short on power as they haven;t been needed over the winter

 

Oh dear. I do hope they manage to fledge 🤞

[HarryMonkey]

We had these three little critters running round the garden last night ...

 

[elsiegee40]

Baby bird season is well under the rescue and the babies in my care vary in size from this Carrion Crow…

 

To these Long Tailed Tits

 

Sound up for the full effect

[LeMarchand]

 

Not sure I'd want to eat it after all that, though.

[elsiegee40]

The blue tits in our camera nest box fledged this morning. Mrs B started nesting a full month ahead of schedule, but started sitting exactly at the usual time and built up so much nest material that the camera angle was dreadful and we could barely see what was going on. The most chicks we counted was 4 and we certainly saw 2 yesterday, but we don’t actually know how many there were!

[FN-GM]

I thought I posted this on here, I can’t see it. Must have been imagining it!

 

Anyway here is a Kola in my garden. Spotted back in February.

 

[jmak]

Either @mikeprice is making a surprise visit or our lockdown nature pond is being colonised. (There was a matching female amphibian that dived under the water before I could take the photo.)[ATTACH]61381[/ATTACH]

The hole in the garden we dug in lockdown is now home to at least 12 frogs!

 

I know there's more weed than you'd ideally like, but every time I try to remove some, a frog jumps out, so I decided I'd better let nature sort itself out

Edited May 27, 2024 by jmak

[elsiegee40]

Our lockdown pond has loads of frogs too!

[elsiegee40]

First froglet find of the year

[6Foot2]

First froglet find of the year

[ATTACH]71897[/ATTACH]

Which of us is that, and what did they do wrong?

 

[elsiegee40]

Which of us is that, and what did they do wrong?

 

 

Might need a roll call [emoji23]

[elsiegee40]

We just went to watch “Wilding” the new film about the rewilding of the Knepp Estate in Sussex at a small cinema in Tunbridge Wells. I really recommend it if you’re in any way interested in wildlife or environmental issues. I’ve never been to a film before where the majority of the audience stayed in their seats at the end discussing what they’d seen. It’s being shown again at the Trinity on Sunday afternoon (book online here https://www.trinitytheatre.net/events/wilding-pg) and it’s heading for the major streaming platforms and is already on Prime.

[Dos_Box]

We just went to watch “Wilding” the new film about the rewilding of the Knepp Estate in Sussex at a small cinema in Tunbridge Wells. I really recommend it if you’re in any way interested in wildlife or environmental issues. I’ve never been to a film before where the majority of the audience stayed in their seats at the end discussing what they’d seen. It’s being shown again at the Trinity on Sunday afternoon (book online here https://www.trinitytheatre.net/events/wilding-pg) and it’s heading for the major streaming platforms and is already on Prime.

[ATTACH]71911[/ATTACH]

 

The trailer looks amazing!

 

[Dos_Box]

Took part in a moth survey yesterday morning and got to see lots of species I've never got to see until now.

It also gave my new phone's camera (OnePlus 9 Pro) a work out.

Pics of the Poplar Hawk Moth, Garden Tiger and Buff Tip below:

 

 

 

[6Foot2]

I have been taking down the height of the raised beds (5Foot2 decided that she wanted them reduced in height/depth from three boards to two, an actual height reduction of 14 cm)

 

While I worked, I spotted this little chap on the mint:

 

 

Google says that it's a Mint Moth.

 

[elsiegee40]

I have been taking down the height of the raised beds (5Foot2 decided that she wanted them reduced in height/depth from three boards to two, an actual height reduction of 14 cm)

 

While I worked, I spotted this little chap on the mint:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]72034[/ATTACH]

 

Google says that it's a Mint Moth.

 

 

It is a mint moth. They’re cute little things [emoji4]

[elsiegee40]

Having had 5+ hedgehogs visit our garden regularly for years (see still photo at the end), they suddenly disappeared at the end of August 2022 at the end of that very hot summer. Our garden is an odd shape, crammed in a corner, and we have access from 4 other gardens and from the front of the house.

 

In the whole of 2023 we had a single visit from one in June. This year nothing until last night when this one spent most of the night bumbling round our garden and drinking from the water dish. My fingers are crossed that this marks the return of hogs to our garden. [emoji4] [emoji4] [emoji4]

 

Typical scene from our garden in years gone by… a female (facing the camera) being wooed by 3 males

 

I’ve been having a rubbish time of late, but finally something to make me smile

Edited August 15, 2024 by elsiegee40

[HarryMonkey]

We have regular hedgehog visits during the night as as well as a couple of the local moggies.

[6Foot2]

Another day, another moth in our garden. Today, a Jersey Tiger.

 

 

*Identification by Google.

[Andrew_C]

Our hog numbers have been down a bit too. At least 3 this year, may well be more.

[elsiegee40]

Having had 5+ hedgehogs visit our garden regularly for years (see still photo at the end), they suddenly disappeared at the end of August 2022 at the end of that very hot summer. Our garden is an odd shape, crammed in a corner, and we have access from 4 other gardens and from the front of the house.

 

In the whole of 2023 we had a single visit from one in June. This year nothing until last night when this one spent most of the night bumbling round our garden and drinking from the water dish. My fingers are crossed that this marks the return of hogs to our garden. [emoji4] [emoji4] [emoji4]

 

Typical scene from our garden in years gone by… a female (facing the camera) being wooed by 3 males

[ATTACH=CONFIG]72037[/ATTACH]

 

I’ve been having a rubbish time of late, but finally something to make me smile

 

What’s better than having one hedgehog? Two! It looks like we’re back in business [emoji4]

[Ditto]

There's a reasonable stretch of grass adjoining the side of my house with access road next to it. We are within a couple of hundred yards of a common. Yesterday, whilst mowing and clearing some dropped Bramley's, I noticed several patches of what I believe to be deer droppings.

Q1 - would deer eat Bramley apples or would they be grazing the grass - there's plenty more on the common where deer a regularly seen.

Q2 - what recommendation would you make for rapidly (i.e. probably an Amazon Prime order) setting up a camera capture some footage. I have a fence, fence post, shed and house wall that would provide a suitable fixing point and it would most likely be within WiFi range.

[HarryMonkey]

I use one of these in my back garden, I have it on a little mini tripod and have bought a spare battery for it too. Works great, videos can be watched online.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ring-stick-up-cam-plug-in/dp/B0C5QXCP7Z

[Dos_Box]

Was out for a walk around Brockholes Nature Reserve just outside of Preston yesterday afternoon and this little mouse (I think it's a Wood Mouse) decided to join us just by the bench we were sat on by a bird feeding area. It was totally unfazed by us and we could move around on the bench to watch it: