Wildlife Corner

[Tripps]

Thanks for the replies. I thought that the assertion that there were 'no swallows' this year was a bit exaggerated. Excuse my ignorance about rooks and crows - I should do better since the local paper is Royston Crow

I read the piece on temporal synchrony. I tried without success to find any clue in it as to what it was all about. It's good that our universities support these really really clever people in their endeavours. Where would we be without them.

[Stanley]

I looked temporal synchrony up.... The article started "Temporal synchrony is the perception of simultaneity from sensory inputs that may not necessarily be simultaneous. We sought to determine whether there were differences in perceived temporal synchrony between a continuous audiovisual stream and a discrete audiovisual event. We also determined whether the audiovisual stream and the audiovisual event interacted with each other when presented simultaneously." I decided this was yet another field of human endeavour that I am best off without.
I could have sworn I saw a fox vanishing into the undergrowth in Valley Gardens yesterday but it was such a fleeting glimpse I can't be sure. Mind you I tend to trust the fact that that was what immediately came to mind....

[Wendyf]

I've only ever seen a live fox once in the 20 years we have lived here and that was a couple of fields away.

[Stanley]

I've seen them at Kayfield and one morning a young deer in the Pioneer car park.... Rat sightings are fairly common.

[PanBiker]

There is a fox who we see fairly regularly when out walking that roams the fields below Hollins Lane. Seen him down by the stables by Priory Way so only a spit into Valley Gardens.

[Stanley]

[Wendyf]

Not exactly wildlife but we were woken early this morning by the constant sound of a lamb bleating, which isn't unusual as we are surrounded by them. This one was particularly persistent and close to the bedroom window but it wasn't until it hurled itself against the back door with a huge clatter that we realised it had jumped over the wall into our back garden.
Col got the back gate open and after a few more panicky circuits of the garden it ignored the open gate and cleared the wall. Don't imagine a tiny lamb, it was huge!!

[Tizer]

We once stayed in a small holiday cottage alongside a field with sheep and lambs. We kept finding a lamb in the garden and I had to catch it and put it back over the fence. I hadn't realised until then how heavy, strong and feisty a `small' lamb could be - and how difficult to catch!

[Stanley]

I always love the way they can spring vertically into the air to a surprising height.

[Stanley]

On my way out I came across a fledgling crow on the ground in the Memorial Guardians with two adults who I assumed to be the parents calling to it but it couldn't take off. I decided to leave well alone in case it had just fallen and had to recover. Half an hour later when I came back it had gone and so had the distressed parents. I hope this means it had recovered and managed to get airborne again.

[PanBiker]

The terracotta pot Jackdaw family are engaged with maiden flights this morning as well. I cant make my mind up if they have one or two to escort. I have definitely seen one young one eyeing up the task perched on the corner of the stack that is their home on Ash Grove. Both parents are in attendance and I thought I saw three birds together a little earlier which is why I think they may have two young ones, one already initiated. In previous years they aim to get them down into the grass and undergrowth behind the church for their first landings. All you can do is leave well alone and hope they make it.

[Whyperion]

I always love the way they can spring vertically into the air to a surprising height.

Like horses, I think they have a sort of elastic material in the joints to the hooves (must be similar to what fleas have too(, for horses in the main acts a shock absorber, but can be 'coiled/retracted' for jumping. Cats I think use leg muscles and loose bones on their jumping and landing so different techniques.

[Stanley]

I don't know what the cause is but the Jackdaws have been very active, even agitated, over the last couple of days....

[Stanley]

I've almost finished the 'kill the eggs' phase of Jack's ear treatment. The larger bottle of drops was a good idea, it is just going to do the final three weeks which started on the 20th of May allowing for a couple of missed days.
Just realised that that should have been in pets. Let's assume the ear mites are wild life!

[Stanley]

We see plenty of gloomy reports about species extinction but occasionally we get a story like THIS one from the BBC this morning. Giant Bermudan Land Snails, long thought to be extinct are staging a come back after a survivor colony was found in a back street in the capital Hamilton. Five years ago ome were sent to Chester Zoo who have reared enough snails to be able to send some back to their home for release into the wild.
A refreshing change....

[StoneRoad]

I have an enormous garden and attached bit of mixed woodland, rural and about 800/900 foot up in SW Northumberland (so not actually local to Barlick!)

When we first moved in, over 20 years ago, the garden was neglected and overgrown and the bit of woodland didn't exist. I did my best to improve things, with wildlife in mind. So apart from a four year relapse that ended three years ago after the rabbits ate everything ... and the weather was terrible, even worse that this week ! ... there has been a steady improvement.

My first tactic was mainly for the feathered fraternity - loads of nest boxes and feeding stations. The latter being especially important over the winter.
The bird species count went up significantly.
This year, for example, two breeding pairs of greater spotted woodpeckers, several members of the tit family and at least two pairs of goldfinches, blackbirds, robins, wrens and chaffinches make up most of the rest. This year I seem to have acquired some house sparrows ...

rather than post loads of images (obv not all from home; the seawater is mostly Whitehaven marina)
have a look here ...

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/312383/album/404661

[StoneRoad]

With regards to the blackbirds hereabouts, there is one male that is definitely less timid than normal

this album explains ...

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/312383/album/482279

I may try some fresh mealworms later in the month, to see if he will come down to me.

[StoneRoad]

The other rescues have been Hedgepigs ...

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/312383/album/404901


We don't have a resident in care at present, and I'm not sure if there is one in the wood or garden at all this year.

[Stanley]

Good. You sound like wildlife central!

[Tizer]

This year, for example, two breeding pairs of greater spotted woodpeckers, several members of the tit family and at least two pairs of goldfinches, blackbirds, robins, wrens and chaffinches make up most of the rest. This year I seem to have acquired some house sparrows ...

That's great, well done! Do you see any greenfinches? They used to be common but then were badly affected by a disease that's carried by pigeons and passed to the finches through drinking water and feeding stations. It's a horrible disease and has wiped out the greenfinches in many places.

[Stanley]

Pigeons and in particular Pigeon shit are so dangerous. My mate Robert had a collapsed lung due to inhaling the dust at one time.

[Stanley]

I got a clear view at close range of a Ring Ouzel in Valley Gardens this morning. I knew they were about but have never seen one so close. Good to tell why Ouzledale was so named.... (LINK)

[StoneRoad]

This year, for example, two breeding pairs of greater spotted woodpeckers, several members of the tit family and at least two pairs of goldfinches, blackbirds, robins, wrens and chaffinches make up most of the rest. This year I seem to have acquired some house sparrows ...

That's great, well done! Do you see any greenfinches? They used to be common but then were badly affected by a disease that's carried by pigeons and passed to the finches through drinking water and feeding stations. It's a horrible disease and has wiped out the greenfinches in many places.

We used to have greenfinches, but not for some years. I take care to clean my feeders and the areas concerned and I move the sites quite often as well.

Hopefully, the population should recover - there was a similar problem with Kestrels having a population crashabout a decade ago and they have returned to a certain extent.

[Tizer]

At the moment pigeons and seagulls are in the ascendency!

[Tripps]

Next door has just told me he just saw a fox crossing the front garden. I've seen plenty of squirrels, rabbits, and muntjac deer, but never a fox.