The Wildlife (and Gardening for Wildlife) thread

[Ditto]

A venomous Red Back (also known as the Australia Black Widow) in the shed.

 

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Shed!? We know who to call! Looking at the beams, is it a Tudor style building

[Andrew_C]

Tudor style in "The Land Down Under" would have looked more like a scene from "Walkabout".

[FN-GM]

Shed!? We know who to call! Looking at the beams, is it a Tudor style building

 

That part of my work bench!

[6Foot2]

Link: Big Garden Birdwatch [2025]

 

It's Big Garden Birdwatch Weekend. Get counting!

 

Runs: 24^th - 26^th of January.

 

At the time of posting:

 

[6Foot2]

Link: Pet fur found in songbird nests contains high levels of pesticides, study finds | Birds | The Guardian

 

Songbird chicks are being killed by high levels of pesticides in the pet fur used by their parents to line their nests, a study has found.

 

Researchers surveying nests for the harmful chemical found in pet flea treatments found that it was present in every single nest. The scientists from the University of Sussex are now calling for the government to urgently reassess the environmental risk of pesticides used in flea and tick treatments and consider restricting their use.

 

Cats and dogs are widely treated with insecticides to prevent against fleas. Vets often recommend regular flea treatments as a preventive measure, even when dogs and cats do not have the pest. But scientists now recommend animals should not be treated for fleas unless they actually have them.

 

It was already widely known that the chemicals in the treatments were affecting life in rivers and streams after pets swam in them, but the discovery of songbird nest contamination will add to the pressure.

 

Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu, the lead author of the research paper, said: “No nest was free from insecticides in our study, and this significant presence of harmful chemicals could be having devastating consequences on the UK’s bird populations.

 

“Our research shows that based on the chemicals detected, veterinary flea and tick drugs are the most likely source of contamination. We undertook our research when it was safe to do so at the end of the breeding season, so the problem could in fact be much worse. This raises questions about the environmental impact of veterinary drugs and calls for a comprehensive environmental risk assessment of veterinary treatments.”

 

The study, published today in Science of the Total Environment, shows that the fur used by birds to build the inner lining of their nests contained chemicals used in pet flea treatments, such as fipronil.

 

The researchers collected 103 blue and great tit nests that were lined with fur, finding that 100% of the nests contained fipronil, which is banned in the UK and EU for agricultural use, and 89% contained imidacloprid, which was banned in the EU as a plant protection product in 2018. Both are still widely used in pet flea treatments. The UK government is drawing up plans for a total ban on imidacloprid in agriculture but not for pet treatments. The researchers also detected 17 out of the 20 insecticides they were testing for.

 

The scientists found a higher number of unhatched eggs or dead chicks in nests where there was a higher incidence of insecticide.

 

Recent research has found that these flea treatments also enter rivers, killing the wildlife within, and that pet owners using them risk contaminating their hands with the chemicals for at least 28 days after the treatment has been applied.

 

Sue Morgan, the chief executive of SongBird Survival, said: “We are a nation of pet lovers and bird lovers, and it is extremely concerning to see the alarming levels of toxic pesticides in bird nests from veterinary drugs. Pet owners will be upset to hear that in trying to do the right thing to support their pets with fleas and ticks, they could be harming our ecosystem, resulting in dead newborn chicks and unhatched eggs. As pet owners, we need to have confidence that we are keeping our pets well, without devastating impacts on our wildlife.

 

“Our UK songbirds are in crisis. More than half of our UK songbirds are threatened or already in decline, which is why this latest research shows the importance of taking action as soon as possible. We want the government to undertake a more comprehensive environmental risk assessment of veterinary drugs.”

[elsiegee40]

Link: Pet fur found in songbird nests contains high levels of pesticides, study finds | Birds | The Guardian

 

It’s also a problem with dogs going into streams, rivers and ponds. The flea treatments are affecting wildlife

[Andrew_C]

Particularly fleas?

[6Foot2]

Particularly fleas?

 

And ticks.

[6Foot2]

Link: 'Once-in-a-lifetime' starling murmuration for Leicestershire village - BBC News

 

'Once-in-a-lifetime' murmuration for village

 

People living in a Leicestershire village are being treated to "once-in-a-lifetime" murmurations.

 

The starlings have been roosting in Rearsby and some residents say they have "not seen anything like it" in 40 years.

 

Along with the stunning murmurations in the evenings, villagers have been contending with cleaning up after their noisy neighbours.

 

"You go out of a morning and everybody's out there cleaning their cars," Suzanne Mullins said.

 

"[i have] never, ever seen anything like it and I'm privileged to have witnessed it."

 

Andy Neilson, reserves officer at Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, said it was "quite an uncommon thing to get a murmuration of this size in Leicestershire".

 

"It's probably a one-in-a-lifetime event for those that do live there [in Rearsby]."

 

Click the link above for a video of the murmuration.

[HarryMonkey]

Nice to see but needs one helluva cleanup operation afterwards.

[6Foot2]

Link: Winners — WORLD NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS (2025)

[elsiegee40]

Spawning has kicked off in our pond. so many frogs tonight!!!

[6Foot2]

Link: Rare lichen brought back to East Anglia with help of bookbinding glue | Plants | The Guardian

 

A rare lichen has been reintroduced to its historical habitat of East Anglia – with the help of some bookbinding glue.

 

Scrambled egg lichen, so named for its bright yellow, crumbly appearance, was once common in the Breckland region of Norfolk and Suffolk but was last seen there in 1994.

 

It is thought to have become extinct due to habitat loss resulting from changes in farming, an increase in tree cover and a drop in the number of rabbits.

 

The charity Plantlife has now launched a conservation effort to transfer the rare lichen back to the area from the north of Cornwall, more than 350 miles away.

 

The technique used to move the species, known as translocation, involves carefully removing small patches of the lichen and using either water or bookbinding glue to reattach them to their new habitat.

 

Dave Lamacraft, Plantlife’s lichen and bryophyte specialist, said he had to investigate different types of glue to find one that would not damage the lichen.

 

He said: “There’s a study from work in Spain with ecologically similar lichen species and similar habitat, clay calcareous soils. They found water and glue were the two most effective. Scrambled egg lichen grows on soils that are pH7 or higher, really alkaline soils. A lot of the waterproof glues are quite acidic, I discovered, and also they have biocides in them.”

 

Through trial and error using different types of glue, bookbinding glue was found to have the correct pH for the lichen and was also waterproof.

 

Two hundred small pieces of the lichen were removed from Penhale in Cornwall, of which 160 have been transplanted into the chalky Breckland landscape.

 

Lamacraft said: “It’s a nature reserve owned by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust: they created this habitat a few years ago which is perfect for the lichen. The main issue for the loss of all three of the lichen species is loss of habitat – a really particular need for not much vegetation, open soil dominating habitat – and that’s what has been lost in a lot of the Breckland area.

 

“If this works then we can replicate that habitat management elsewhere on other sites.”

[6Foot2]

Link: Garden Wildlife - Special Stamp Issues

 

 

Available: From 11^th of March.

[Ditto]

I wonder which is rarest, or least frequently seen. For me it would be the smooth newt (perhaps unsurprisingly) and the hedgehog which is sad.

[LeMarchand]

Not seen the newt but have seen the rest in our garden, hedgehogs very rarely and a sole badger once. Far more common than those last two and many of the others: slow worms, pigeons, earthworms and SLUGS!

[elsiegee40]

Link: Garden Wildlife - Special Stamp Issues

 

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Available: From 11^th of March.

 

I can claim the full set in my garden. I think the hedgehog is the only red listed (endangered) species among that lot.

[LeMarchand]

 

The Arctic Fox is making a comeback in Norway: https://discoverwildscience.com/the-arctic-fox-comeback-how-norways-rewilding-efforts-are-helping-a-once-endangered-species-thrive-1-273831/

[FN-GM]

Saw this baby Eastern Brown Snake this evening. Initially on my doorstep until I used a very long pole to encourage it away! The second most venomous snake in the world.

 

Edited March 10, 2025 by FN-GM

[Ditto]

I read it can kill in 15 minutes, you might not even know you have been bitten and the anti-venom might not work from bites from baby Eastern Brown snakes. I trust it was a very long pole!

[FN-GM]

I read it can kill in 15 minutes, you might not even know you have been bitten and the anti-venom might not work from bites from baby Eastern Brown snakes. I trust it was a very long pole!

 

Fairly long! It's one of those extendable ones for painting the ceiling!

 

I am close to a major Hospital and Ambulance station, so if it's going to happen I am in the best place for it!

[Ditto]

Continuing the Australian theme, the very other end of the dangerous animals in Australia - a baby wombat. In this instance the dangerous item is, as is so often the case, a human.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3d8m4vk0e9o

 

In truth, it's yet another example of ignorance and stupidity for the desire to be liked on social media. I can understand the furore this has caused, but a campaign for extradition feels a little extreme. Yet, in all honesty if the young lady (I can accept the term 'influencer' admitted her error, apologised and agreed to take some re-education, forgiveness is a human ability too infrequently given. I have to say though, I really like the Aussie PM's statement in that wonderful Aussie way - "Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there."

My apologies for tainting what is normally such a delightful thread - I will redeem myself soon with a much more appealing and appropriate contribution.

Edited March 13, 2025 by Ditto

[LeMarchand]

She tarnishes the good name of Sam Jones.

 

 

Though that does remind me of this clip.

 

NSFW but very funny: loud swearing (and with hardcoded subtitles).

 

 

Don't know why the thumbnail isn't showing, but it's a koala on a mine site.

Edited March 13, 2025 by LeMarchand

[Andrew_C]

Are we in "it's a ****ing goat" teritory?

[LeMarchand]

Are we in "it's a ****ing goat" teritory?

 

Don't know that reference, but the starred out word features heavily. It's someone doing a voiceover with a mine worker trying to get an angry koala off site.